System and method of automated tracking of consumable products

ABSTRACT

This invention relates to the automatic identification and measurement of the consumption of an item or items and reporting of consumption of primarily, but not limited to, foodstuffs and provisions, that are typically stored in refrigerators, pantries, cupboards, apparatus and display shelves, store cases, shopping carts and baskets and the like. The invention therefore allows humans to accurately and automatically track their nutritional input, inventory transferal and in-store purchases in real-time. The invention relates to low-cost, printable electronics with integrated micro-electromechanical (MEMS) and/or Nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS), wireless inductive power and wireless communication, and targets a low-cost solution applicable to consumer applications.

FIELD OF NEW INVENTION

This invention relates to the automatic identification, measurement,processing, tracking and reporting of the consumption, location and/orpurchasing of primarily, but not limited to, foodstuffs, medication andprovisions, herein “consumables” or “items”. This invention thereforeallows for the identification, measurement, processing, tracking andreporting of consumables movement and/or usage as they are transportedfrom one location to another for consumption and/or consumed directlyfrom said location. The invention relates to an integrated solution oflow-cost consumer electronics and methods necessary to detect inreal-time the identification, measurement, processing, tracking,reporting and consumption of items. The application generally relates toa real-time information system for dietary or medicinal consumption orretail or wholesale inventory tracking, such as a software applicationfor a mobile computing device, store display or smart phone foridentification, measurement, processing, tracking and reporting ofconsumption metrics and nutritional or medicinal information ofconsumables for a user or users; or, the identification, measurement,processing, tracking and reporting of consumption metrics of items movedbetween store display shelves and the like, and shopping carts orbaskets and the like, while a user is shopping, recording the pendingpurchases made or reversed and reporting back on a mobile computingdevice, store display or smart phone such information, primarily, butnot limited to, their running total, nutritional and medicinal content,carrying weight and unpurchased store items of relevance and/or on saleand the items' relative location in the store.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Obesity is now recognized as a national epidemic. An estimated 64% ofthe US population is classified as overweight or obese. Environmentalfactors, such as increased food portions, western diet based on omega-6grains and saturated fats, and sedentary lifestyles, have contributed tothis epidemic. The epidemic affects children, with 15% of children inthe United States aged one to 19 years overweight or obese.

Calorie underestimation is often alleged to contribute to obesity. Bydeveloping a psychophysical model of meal size estimation, it has beenshown that the association between body mass and calorie underestimationfound in health science research is a spurious consequence of thetendency of high-body-mass people to choose—and thus estimate—largermeals. In multiple studies involving consumers and dieticians, it wasfound that the calorie estimations of high- and low-body-mass peoplefollow the same compressive power function; that is, they exhibit thesame diminishing sensitivity to meal size changes as the size of themeal increases. That underestimation of the size of bigger meals may bebecause the volume and mass of the meal increases as the cube of itslinear dimension. It was found that using a piecemeal decompositionimproves calorie estimation and leads people to choose smaller, butequally satisfying, fast-food meals. The findings that biases in calorieestimation are caused by meal size and not body size have importantimplications for allegations against the food industry and for theclinical treatment of obesity.

Other studies examine the role of the highest levels of caloricknowledge, obesity consequences knowledge, and motivation to search fornutrition information in the processing of relative nutrient contentclaims in advertisements, such as “half the calories” or “half the fat,”for products relatively high in total calorie levels. After controllingfor the impact of demographics, dietary habits, body mass index,relative ad claims and disclosures, perceived weight gain risk, andother variables, curvilinear (quadratic) effects were found for caloricknowledge, obesity consequences knowledge, and motivation to search fornutrition information on intent to buy an advertised, high-calorie snackbar. This suggests a strengthening of the negative relationship forintent for consumers at the highest levels of caloric knowledge, obesityconsequences knowledge, and motivation (i.e. the “nutrition elite”).There are many public policy implications, including whether achievingsuch exceedingly high levels of nutrition knowledge and motivation isrealistic for the general public in light of other policy alternatives,such as market-based solutions (e.g., reducing serving sizes,standardized front-of-package icons).

The fundamental limitation with most nutritional tracking applicationsand/or patented systems is that they require users to routinely manuallyenter their food consumption and generally modify their normal routines.Human nature being as it is, most people begin such an effort withbravado but eventually fail to consistently interact with thenutritional tracking application.

Software applications for tracking nutritional information, which may beused on a smart phone for example, typically expect product packaginginformation for a food product to be read and converted to an identifierfor the food product. A comparison of the food product identificationagainst a food product database may be used to retrieve information forthe food product from the database. At least part of the information forthe food product is added to a user profile. The nutritional elements ofthe user profile are then analyzed based on the addition of said foodproduct information. The user profile is then updated with results ofthe analysis for tracking the user's nutritional information. A user canthen monitor food intake (such as fat, calories, sugar, food types), atthe time of purchasing or consumption, which may be compared to desiredtargets, goals, or limits.

There are many software applications currently available for smartphones, for example, which help make the user's life more convenient.More and more, people are becoming aware of the health benefits andability to extend their life by eating healthily and/or consuming fewercalories. For some people, it is critical to track and monitor thenumber of calories and food types eaten to maintain or lose weight.

There are diet systems that assign points to different food products,but this limits the user to a set of foods that are pre-coded orpredetermined by the diet system. There is a need for a nutritionalinformation system that is more flexible and expansive. There is a needfor the process of capturing nutritional value information to beautomated.

Most food products include some amount of nutritional information on theproduct label. Also, many restaurants make this nutritional informationavailable to customers regarding the food served on their menu. However,most people do not keep track of their calorie intake nor tally theirconsumption of certain food types and parts (e.g., fat, cholesterol,sugar) because it is not convenient or easy to do so. There is a needfor a user-friendly software system to help a user track thisinformation.

The typical process for populating calorie counting softwareapplications is to manually enter estimated consumption of foodstuffs.

Normal human behavior at the start of a new epoch of eating healthy, orattempting to lose weight, etc., is to immerse oneself in the practiceof accurately weighing or otherwise measuring food consumption. Aftersome time, that discipline typically decreases and the value of thecalorie counting application diminishes.

There are several inventions describing methodologies for improving theaccuracy of the measuring of food consumption. These techniques includeattaching RFID tags to foodstuff and adding RFID readers near the foodstorage or food preparation areas, cameras, barcodes and associatedbarcode readers, etc. These are not cost-effective solutions for theaverage consumer to purchase.

These several inventions described above are not simple to integrateinto a typical residential or business food preparation and storageenvironment. This will be an impediment to wide-scale usage as astandard for measuring real-time nutritional consumption.

These several inventions described above require the user to changehis/her routine as to preparing consuming foodstuffs, accessingfoodstuff storage and the like.

By using low-cost electronics, printable substrates, wireless inductivepower or kinetic, solar or ambient light power and wirelesscommunication, such as Bluetooth, NFC, Wi-Fi, and the like and a uniquecombination of MEMS/NEMS sensors, the automatic identification,measurement and reporting of movement or physical change in consumablesis possible, in a manner that does not require the end user to modifytheir present routine in how they interact with said inventory storage,food consumption or method of shopping.

Several types and quantities of foodstuffs and provisions may be storedin generic opaque packaging and containers that make identificationdifficult. Current inventions requiring a bar code and/or RFID tag orany other type of identifying mark is expensive and would requirecontinuous reprograming because these types of containers are constantlyrepurposed. The proposed invention solves this issue and also eliminatesthe tagging and reprogramming, typically required.

The proposed invention is specifically designed to allow via industrystandard software interfaces, application developers to create aplethora of new applications focused on improving the efficiency andhealth value of nutritional tracking software and/or the inventorymovement and consumption from a warehouse or store, and/or tracking thepending purchases of a shopper.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

In embodiments, the invention comprises integrated, low-cost, sensingmodalities including, but not limited to, printed electronics, MEMS/NEMSsensor modalities, wireless power and communication, software interfacesto current and future domain-specific applications, verbal interactionwith technology platforms, and methods focusing this apparatus toautomatically identify, measure, track and report on consumption offoodstuffs, provisions and the like, and/or the inventory movement andconsumption from a warehouse or store, and/or tracking the pendingpurchases of a shopper.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 illustrates an overview of the invention as it relates toapplications involving food storage and removal from a refrigerator orother powered storage appliances.

FIG. 2 illustrates an overview of the invention as it relates toapplications involving food storage and removal from general foodstorage other than powered storage appliances.

FIG. 3 illustrates an overview of the invention as it relates toapplications involving food preparation prior to actual consumption.

FIG. 4 illustrates an overview of the invention as it relates toapplications involving food consumption.

FIG. 5 illustrates a diagram indicating the logic of capturing theaddition of a food item to a location that is monitored with theembedded electronics.

FIG. 6 illustrates a diagram indicating the logic of capturing theremoval of a food item to a location that is monitored with the embeddedelectronics.

FIG. 7 illustrates a diagram indicating the logic of capturing theconsumption by individual of a food item to a location that is monitoredwith the embedded electronics.

FIG. 8 illustrates the general configuration and concept of a costeffective thin shelf liner that will include embedded sensor technologyused to track consumption of a food item and/or removal or replacementof an item from warehouse inventory or a store shelf.

FIG. 9 illustrates the general configuration and concept of the abilityto inductively power the printable electronics using the powered foodstorage units' present power supply.

FIG. 10 illustrates a diagram indicating the logic of moving pendingpurchases from shelf to shopping cart.

FIG. 11 illustrates a diagram indicating the logic of paying for pendingpurchases gathered in a shopping cart.

FIG. 12 illustrates a diagram indicating the logic of movingback-of-store inventory to shelves.

FIG. 13 illustrates a diagram indicating the logic of receiving andtracking inventory into back-of-store warehouse.

FIG. 14 and FIG. 15 illustrate exemplary embodiments of the detection ofan object using the sensors of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In embodiments, the invention is suitable for integration and use inrefrigerators, freezers, cupboards, pantries, in and on the foodpreparation areas, storage cabinets, consumer shelves, shopping cartsand baskets, retail foodstuff storage units, such as meat cases in adelicatessen, and placemats used under serving plates used to serve oreat food from, and the like.

Suitably, the weighing mechanism, which includes electronics, such as,but not limited to strain gauges, Hall effect sensors, piezometers andthe like, are printed in electronic form and are integrated into a formof a paper-thin like, transparent structure. This thin structure, i.e. asheet of electronics, the same size as a shelf in a refrigerator,freezers, cupboards, pantries, in and on the food preparation areas,storage cabinets, consumer shelves, shopping carts and baskets, retailfoodstuff storage units, such as meat cases in a delicatessen, andplacemats used under serving plates used to serve or eat food from, andthe like, is either placed in the case or on the shelf in question inthis form, or incorporates an adhesive backed format to more securelyhold the paper structure in place.

The thin structure that holds the printed electronics is made of manytypes of conventional and low-cost sheet materials. The selection of thesheet material is primarily driven by the field of use, for example, apolyethylene material may be used in a refrigerator, shopping cart ordamp area where foodstuffs and the like can spill and hence this sheetshelf structure needs to be conveniently wiped and/or washed down. Inthe case of the food consumption placemat or shopping cart liner, theintended technology is embedded in the placemat or liner in a robust butcost-effective manner, and is powered via small, coin sized batterywhich may or may not be recharged via wireless inductive power orkinetic, solar or ambient light power. This allows for routineoperations of the MEMS/NEMS sensors and wireless communication to theexternal application.

In exemplary embodiments, the form factor of the thin printed structure,suitable for shelving applications can be printed in any width andlength direction since the fundamental manufacturing process is atraditional sheet fed process. The thickness of the sheet material istypically between 1/32″ and 1/16″ of an inch.

With the printed electronics sheet material setting on a shelf, forexample, in a refrigerator, used to store foodstuffs, when a foodstuffis placed on the printed electronics sheet material, the weighingmechanism determines identity of the foodstuff by allowing theelectronics and the associated software application to capture theweight matrix profile of the foodstuff which includes its weight andfootprint on the printed electronics sheet material, whether the item isplaced directly on the sheet, or on top of another item on the sheet,thereby altering the original weight footprint of that item. Theseweight profiles combined with their sheet locations and relative ordirect positions will be captured in an associated database and will beused, in part, to identify what the foodstuff is.

After the consumer uses and or otherwise, removes some of the foodstufffrom the removed product from, in this example, the refrigerator, whenthe user places the foodstuff back into the refrigerator, the weighingmechanism will automatically, on indication of a new item placed on theshelf sheet material, measure the foodstuff and create a similartwo-dimensional weight profile; compare its footprint and relativeweight with the recently removed foodstuff of greater or equal weightand similar footprint and determine if it is a replacement of said item.If the (lesser/equal) weight and footprint of the foodstuff have beendetermined to have belonged to a foodstuff previously removed, and ifthe end user consumed some of the foodstuff, the foodstuff will weighless, in this case. The associated application will be able tointerrogate the weighing mechanism two-dimensional weight profile,assess the change in magnitude of peak values [the tare weight], andcalculate, precisely the amount of foodstuff consumption, by percentage,based on the original ingredients of the foodstuff published on itsretail package and then captured in the associated database, at itsintroduction to the refrigerator inventory.

The end user is not required to place the foodstuff back in the samelocation that it was removed from. The printed electronics in the shelfsheet material has the capability of determining where it is locatedinside the storage unit, what weight profiles have been previouslyidentified at the various locations and changes in those weightprofiles, even if the foodstuff is now placed on top of other items onthe shelf sheet material.

The weight mechanism is capable of precise measurement, with resolutiondown to microgram weight consumption.

The associated applications, via industry standard API, will use thischange in foodstuff consumption, to automatically update the end user'snutritional counting application.

In additional embodiments, the printed electronics on the thin sheetmaterial will incorporate inductance technology.

Also, provided for methods of identifying what consumables, are beingplaced in storage items. This low-cost printed electronics include butare not limited to, scanning barcode readers, capable of readingstandard UPC bar codes on consumable packaging, RFID readers, capable ofreading RFID tags on consumables, an inward facing scanning camera,requiring zero ambient light, capable of capturing patterns and imagesof movement and location of what is on the shelves, and follow ontransmittal to a pattern recognition application that will identify theitems on the shelf, and a voice circuit, capable of capturing andprocessing the end users talking to the storage unit as they add orremove consumables from the storage unit.

In additional embodiments, a printed sensor capable of olfactorilyidentifying the food [by smell] is incorporated. As a foodstuff and thelike is added to a storage unit, the spectrum of the associated smell ofthe item is captured, transmitted wirelessly via API to externalapplications that then compare the captured smell data to an industrydatabase of foodstuff related smell profiles.

In additional embodiments, the invention of incorporating the concept ofan electronic nose, cost effectively in consumer applications, willalert the end user to pending spoilage of foodstuffs and the like.

In additional embodiments, the invention leverages the emerging use ofvoice activated technology from the likes of Amazon, Google and others.These devices, increasingly found in residences and business, canrespond to end users' commands and have the capability to control anddirect output commands to other external applications.

The invention includes an external application interface to these typesof voice command products that allows the end user as he/she isadding/removing consumables from the storage unit, to identify what theitem is. This is of particular importance in situations where afoodstuff and the like, is stored in an opaque container, for example aTupperware container. In this case, some of the other itemidentification techniques, described earlier, will not be able to detectwhat is in the opaque container. Through simple voice interaction andspeech recognition, the product is identified and classified in theassociated database, while the normal routine of the end user is notunduly impacted. This technique can also be applied to items that aretraditionally wrapped in opaque storage material, i.e. tin foil and thelike and are placed in a freezer section of a storage unit.

In additional embodiments, the present invention relates generally tocircuit elements and more particularly in one aspect to inductors orinductive devices having various desirable electrical and/or mechanicalproperties, and methods of utilizing and manufacturing the same. Thisinvention includes printable inductive wireless power, to meet low-costconsumer market requirements.

In additional embodiments, a myriad of different configurations ofinductors and inductive devices are known in the prior art. One commonapproach to the manufacture of efficient inductors and inductive devicesis the use of a magnetically permeable toroidal core. Toroidal cores arevery efficient at maintaining the magnetic flux of an inductive deviceconstrained within the core itself. Typically, these cores (toroidal ornot) are wound with one or more magnet wire windings thereby forming aninductor or an inductive device. Prior art inductors and inductivedevices are exemplified in a wide variety of shapes and manufacturingconfigurations.

In additional embodiments, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,614,554 toShield, et al. issued Oct. 19, 1971 and entitled “Miniaturized Thin FilmInductors for use in Integrated Circuits” discloses thin film inductorsfor use with miniaturized integrated circuits that are fabricated byforming a first level of parallel metal strips on a substrate and thenforming an insulating layer over the strips. A bar of magnetic materialis disposed along the center portions of the metal strips and a layer ofinsulation is deposited over the bar of magnetic material. A secondlevel of parallel metal strips is then formed over the layer ofinsulation and is connected between opposed ends of adjacent ones ofmetal strips at the first level to form a continuous flattened coilaround the bar of magnetic material. In other embodiments of theinvention, the bar of magnetic material may be omitted, or may bedisposed outside the continuous flattened coil formed by the metalstrips.

In additional embodiments, U.S. Pat. No. 4,253,231 to Nouet issued Mar.3, 1981 and entitled “Method of making an inductive circuit incorporatedin a planar circuit support member” discloses a planar support memberfor an electric circuit, e.g. a printed circuit board, wherein at leasta region of the support member includes magnetic material through atleast a part of its thickness. A magnetic circuit is made in thismaterial by forming at least one opening through it. The support memberis then coated with insulative material and conductor paths are made onboth faces of the support member by conventional techniques for suchmembers. These paths include a winding disposed around a core part ofthe magnetic circuit with alternate half turns being formed on oppositefaces and interconnected by through plating. The inductive circuit thusformed may constitute an inductor, a transformer or a relay

In additional embodiments, U.S. Pat. No. 4,547,961 to Bokil, et al.issued Oct. 22, 1985 and entitled “Method of manufacture of miniaturizedtransformer” discloses a miniaturized thick-film isolation transformercomprising two rectangular substrates each carrying successivescreen-printed thick-film layers of dielectric with spiral planarwindings embedded therein. The spiral windings comprise conductorsformed of fused conductive particles embedded within a layer ofdielectric insulating means solidified by firing at high temperature toform a rigid structure with the windings hermetically sealed within thedielectric and conductively isolated from each other within thetransformer. The substrates are formed at opposite ends thereof withclosely adjacent connection pads all located at a single level toaccommodate automated connection making. Connections between the padsand the windings are effected by conductors formed of fused conductiveparticles. The substrates and the dielectric layers are formed with acentral opening in which is positioned the central leg of a three-leggedsolid magnetic core. The remaining portions of the core surround the twosubstrates to form a compact rugged construction especially suitable forassembly with hybrid integrated circuit components.

In additional embodiments, U.S. Pat. No. 4,847,986 to Meinel issued Jul.18, 1989 and entitled “Method of making square toroid transformer forhybrid integrated circuit” discloses a square toroid transformer that isassembled on a ceramic hybrid integrated circuit substrate. The primaryand secondary windings of the transformer are provided on opposite armsof a square toroid ferrite core by providing first and second groups ofspaced, parallel metal conductors on the surface of the ceramicsubstrate and adherent thereto, and an insulative layer over the firstand second groups of conductors, leaving their respective end portionsexposed. The square toroid ferrite core, coated with dielectricmaterial, is attached to the insulative layer. Wire bonds in planesperpendicular to the longitudinal axes of the opposite arms each arewire bonded, respectively, to an inner end of one of the metalconductors and an outer end of an adjacent one. A large number of turnsfor both the primary winding and the secondary winding are achieved,resulting in high primary and secondary winding and inductances, whilemaintaining a uniform separation and high breakdown voltage between theprimary and secondary wirings.

In additional embodiments, U.S. Pat. No. 5,055,816 to Altman, et al.issued Oct. 8, 1991 and entitled “Method for fabricating an electronicdevice” discloses a method of fabricating an electronic device on acarrier wherein the method comprises forming a hole pattern in thecarrier, and providing a metallization pattern on the carrier, andthrough the holes to define the electronic device.

In additional embodiments, U.S. Pat. No. 5,126,714 to Johnson issuedJun. 30, 1992 and entitled “Integrated circuit transformer” discloses anintegrated circuit transformer which is constructed in a laminar factor.The disclosed invention includes a bottom plate with cores protrudingfrom its upper surface and a top plate with several feed through holes.Both plates are made from high permeability magnetic material.Interposed between the top and bottom plates are at least one primaryand at least one secondary. The primary has feed through holes,vertically aligned with the feed through holes in the top, holes toallow the cores to protrude through, and tabs for connecting to theinput circuit. The primary is made of a laminate clad with an electricalconductor. The circuit which conducts the current around the cores isfabricated by etching special patterns of insulative gaps into theelectrical conductor. The secondary has holes to allow the cores toprotrude through. It also is made of a laminate clad with an electricalconductor. And again, the circuit which conducts the current around thecores is fabricated by etching a special pattern of insulative gaps intothe electrical conductor. The output circuit is connected to thesecondary at three connection points. These points are accessiblethrough the feed through holes and access holes. The primary andsecondary may be fabricated as a sub-assembly by multiple layer printedcircuit techniques. More than one primary and secondary may be utilizedin the integrated transformer. The transformer may be embodied as acurrent, a voltage or a power transformer.

In additional embodiments, U.S. Pat. No. 5,257,000 to Billings, et al.issued Oct. 26, 1993 and entitled “Circuit elements dependent on coreinductance and fabrication thereof” discloses magnetic circuit elements,e.g. for inclusion on circuit boards including one or more windingsabout a toroidal core that are produced by joinder of mating sheets, oneor both recessed to hold the core, and each containing partial windings.Joinder is by use of an anisotropically conducting adhesive layer. Thelayer is applied as an uncured thermosetting adhesive containingspherical conducting particles of such size and distribution as tostatistically result in electrical completion of windings while avoidingturn-to-turn shorting.

In additional embodiments, U.S. Pat. No. 5,487,214 to Walters issuedJan. 30, 1996 and entitled “Method of making a monolithic magneticdevice with printed circuit interconnections” discloses a monolithicmagnetic device having a plurality of transformer elements having singleturn primaries and single turn secondaries fabricated on a plate offerrite which has the outline of a ceramic leadless chip carrier. Eachof the magnetic elements has a primary winding formed from a copper viaplated on the ferrite. Each element's secondary is another copper viaplated over an insulating layer formed over the first layer of copper.The elements' primaries are interconnected on the first copper layer andthe elements' secondaries are interconnected on the second copper layer.The configuration and turns ratio of the transformer are determined bythe series and or parallel interconnections of the primary andsecondaries. Some of the interconnections can be provided by the nexthigher assembly level through the circuit card, with the same magneticdevice providing many turns ratio combinations or values of inductors.

In additional embodiments, U.S. Pat. No. 5,781,091 to Krone, et al.issued Jul. 14, 1998 and entitled “Electronic inductive device andmethod for manufacturing” discloses inductive electrical componentsfabricated by PWB techniques of ferromagnetic core or cores that areembedded in an insulating board provided with conductive layers.Conductive through-holes are provided in the board on opposite sides ofa core. The conductive layers are patterned to form with the conductivethrough-holes one or more sets of conductive turns forming a winding orwindings encircling the core. The conductive layers can also bepatterned to form contact pads on the board and conductive tracesconnecting the pads to the windings.

In additional embodiments, U.S. Pat. No. 6,440,750 to Feygenson, et al.issued Aug. 27, 2002 and entitled “Method of making integrated circuithaving a micromagnetic device” discloses a method of manufacturing anintegrated circuit and an integrated circuit employing the same. In oneembodiment, the method of manufacturing the integrated circuit includes(1) conformally mapping a micromagnetic device, including aferromagnetic core, to determine appropriate dimensions therefore, (2)depositing an adhesive over an insulator coupled to a substrate of theintegrated circuit and (3) forming the ferromagnetic core of theappropriate dimensions over the adhesive.

In additional embodiments, U.S. Pat. No. 6,445,271 to Johnson issuedSep. 3, 2002 and entitled “Three-dimensional micro-coils in planarsubstrates” discloses a three-dimensional micro-coil situated in aplanar substrate. Two wafers have metal strips formed in them, and thewafers are bonded together. The metal strips are connected in such afashion to form a coil and are encompassed within the wafers. Metalsheets are formed on the facing surfaces of the wafers to result in acapacitor. The coil may be a single or multi-turn configuration. It alsomay have a toroidal design with a core volume created by etching atrench in one of the wafers before the metal strips for the coil areformed on the wafer. The capacitor can be interconnected with the coilto form a resonant circuit. An external circuit for impedancemeasurement, among other things, and a processor may be connected to themicro-coil chip.

In additional embodiments, United States Patent Publication No.20060176139 to Pleskach; et al. published Aug. 10, 2006 and entitled“Embedded toroidal inductor” discloses a toroidal inductor, including asubstrate, a toroidal core region defined within the substrate, and atoroidal coil including a first plurality of turns formed about thetoroidal core region and a second plurality of turns formed about thetoroidal core region. The second plurality of turns can define a crosssectional area greater than a cross sectional area defined by the firstplurality of turns. The substrate and the toroidal coil can be formed ina co-firing process to form an integral substrate structure with thetoroidal coil at least partially embedded therein. The first and secondplurality of turns can be disposed in alternating succession. Thetoroidal core region can be formed of a substrate material having apermeability greater than at least one other portion of the substrate.

In additional embodiments, United States Patent Publication No.20060290457 to Lee; et al. published Dec. 28, 2006 and entitled“Inductor embedded in substrate, manufacturing method thereof, microdevice package, and manufacturing method of cap for micro devicepackage” discloses an inductor embedded in a substrate, including asubstrate, a coil electrode formed by filling a metal in a spiral holeformed on the substrate, an insulation layer formed on the substrate,and an external connection pad formed on the insulation layer to beconnected to the coil electrode. The inductor-embedded substrate can beused as a cap for a micro device package by forming a cavity on itsbottom surface.

In additional embodiments, United States Patent Publication No.20070001796 to Waffenschmidt; et al. published Jan. 4, 2007 and entitled“Printed circuit board with integrated inductor” discloses a printedcircuit board with an integrated inductor. A core of an inductor may berealized by ferrite plates glued onto a substrate. A winding of theinductor is provided in the substrate

In additional embodiments, United States Patent Publication No.20070216510 to Jeong; et al. published Sep. 20, 2007 and entitled“Inductor and method of forming the same” discloses an inductor patternthat is formed on a substrate. A conductive pattern having aconcave-convex structure is formed on the inductor pattern to increase asurface area of the inductor pattern. An insulation layer is formed onthe inductor pattern. After a groove is formed such that the insulationlayer is removed to expose the inductor pattern, a conductive pattern isconformally formed on the groove and the insulation layer. Thus, asurface area of the inductor pattern as well as a thickness of aninductor increases to obtain an inductor of a high-quality factor.

In additional embodiments, despite the broad variety of prior artinductor configurations, there is a salient need for low-cost, printed,inductive devices that are both: (1) low in cost to manufacture; and (2)offer improved electrical performance over prior art devices. Ideally,such a solution will not only offer improved electrical performance forthe inductor or inductive device; but, will also provide greaterconsistency between devices manufactured in mass production. Such asolution should also increase consistency and reliability of performanceby limiting opportunities for manufacturing errors of the device.

In further embodiment, the invention encompasses low-cost wirelesscommunication to external applications, typically accessible through theinternet.

In additional embodiments, the invention encompasses a software layerprior to the API that will perform the necessary cost effectivecalculation of sensor data handling, calibration if necessary, troubleshooting, error reporting, and report generation for the respectivestorage unit systems, for which it is installed.

In additional embodiments, the invention encompasses the necessaryinterfaces to allow existing and future nutritional countingapplications to flourish. It is anticipated that these third-partyapplications will also leverage the voice actuated systems, as describedabove, in a manner that alerts, advises or otherwise communicates withthe end user in real-time as to the interactions with the foodstuffs andthe like.

In further embodiments, typically multiple foodstuffs are removed from astorage unit to prepare a meal for multiple persons. In this case, itwould be problematic to ascertain how much of the prepared food isallocated to multiple end users of the nutritional counting application.To this end, the invention described above is also embodied into aportable “placemat” form factor capable of performing the identicalservice for each end user.

In a further embodiment, in the case of the food preparationapplication, the “placemat”, which can be in the form of a storable,typically store bought placemat with embedded electronics, as describedherein; or, could be embedded electronics in the food preparation areaof the countertop, is located under the containers from which foodstuffsare taken, as well as the preparation area on which food preparation istaking place. As the food preparer begins to add ingredients, the foodpreparer speaks to the associated voice application, advising as towhich ingredient has been added to the food preparation container. Thisinformation along with the weight measurement, made with the embeddedsensors in the “placemat”, is used to identify which containers containthe respective ingredients; build the recipe as it is being prepared andaccurately account for the caloric contents of the meal item beingproduced. This information is wirelessly communicated through the API tothe third-party calorie counting applications. The end user uses thevoice interface to advise the application as to the number of foodportions that are being assembled. The “placemat” is powered with asmall coin size battery or if in the case of the embedded electronics inthe countertop, is inductively powered.

In a further embodiment, a camera directed at the food preparation area,is used in conjunction with pattern recognition software to identify theingredients being added to the food preparation containers. Thisinformation is, as before, used with the differential weightmeasurements arising from the embedded electronics in the “placemat”, torecord and document the contents and distribution, caloric andnutritional, of the foodstuffs being prepared.

In a further embodiment, a placemat is placed under each person's plateat the table, as well as the serving containers and plates from whichfoodstuffs are served. The placemats incorporate the embeddedelectronics, wireless communication and small coin battery power supply,as before. The applications weigh the individual's consumption, as wellas the remaining “leftover” foodstuffs on the serving plates andcontainers, based on differential weight measurement of the tare weightof the plate, the gross weight with the food on the plate, and the finalweight of the plate. The voice application is used to identify theperson sitting at each placemat at the table.

In a further embodiment, a camera directed at the food consumption area,is used in conjunction with pattern recognition software to identify theperson consuming the food, and, ingredients being consumed. Thisinformation is, as before, used with the differential weightmeasurements arising from the embedded electronics in the “placemat”.

In additional embodiments, the invention encompasses the necessaryinterfaces to track, in real-time, the available inventory sitting onall shelves of a store or warehouse, by RFID, barcode, weight and weightfootprint of said inventory items.

In a further embodiment, in a grocery store, for example, a thin sheetof polyethylene material containing the intended technology, holds theprinted electronics embedded in the material, used to line the displayshelves to identify and quantify the items placed thereon by barcodeand/or weight and weight footprint. The material used would allow forspills and damp cleanup to occur as needed.

In a further embodiment, to eliminate price printing and paper labels, afully customizable, digital shelf-edge label may be dynamicallyconnected to any segment of electronic display shelf material,wirelessly communicating with the intended technology embedded in thepolyethylene material to instantly “associate” with the consumablessitting on the shelf segment, said shelf-edge label is connected to.

In a further embodiment, the unique digital identifier of the shelf-edgelabel, typically a MAC address (Media Access Control), would allow it towirelessly communicate with the store's product database system, todownload and display the product details associated with the RFID,barcode and/or weight and weight footprint of the items sitting on theattached segment of the electronic display shelf material.

In a further embodiment, the digital shelf-edge label and associatedelectronic display shelf material may be powered via small, coin sizedbattery which may or may not be recharged via wireless inductive poweror kinetic, solar or ambient light power. This allows for routineoperations of the MEMS/NEMS sensors and wireless communication betweenthe shelf-edge label and associated electronic display, as well aswireless communication with the store's product database system.

In a further embodiment, the shelf-edge label would network with thecentrally controlled product database, deriving information such as, butnot limited to, product details, sale price, expiry and quantity limitand “call out” (i.e. coding to signify a different color display thanstandard shelf-edge labels, to draw attention to the items on thatshelf), and the like. This wireless communication has the effect ofautomatically associating any digital shelf-edge display with therelated products on the shelf above, by having a known product—orgrouping of the same product (such as the same cans of soup)—on thesegment of the shelf material attached to said shelf-edge label.

In a further embodiment, in the above example, a plastic base “liner”containing printed electronic sensors, may be inserted into shoppingcarts, baskets and the like, on which to place consumables, allowing forthe identification and tracking by RFID, barcode, weight and weightfootprint of all items transferred to and from a display shelf and saidshopping cart, basket and the like.

In a further embodiment, a mobile device serving as combination wirelessmagnetic stripe and chip card reader, RFID and barcode reader and touchscreen smart display or a mobile “smart” phone serving one or more ofthose functions, would be attached to shopping carts, to enhance theshopping experience by displaying their up-to-date shopping tally;communicating with their smart phone managed shopping list and/orkeeping tabs on their store-managed shopping history from prior visitsto any store in the chain; communicating current store specials,cross-merchandised items (based on their current purchases and vicinityto said items) and directing the shopper to item locations by giving“arrow” indications on the screen, relative to their currentgeo-location in the store.

In a further embodiment, with the ability to cross-reference a shopper'sshopping list with the central store product database, linked to allknown consumables' geo-location in the store, their shopping list couldbe re-ordered or split between two or more shopping carts, to give themthe most efficient route to traverse the store, to finish their shop,quickly.

In a further embodiment, the aforementioned shopping cart smart displayor mobile phone would associate with the electronics in the shoppingcart liner to have a real-time accounting of all items placed in theshopping cart. Just as the digital shelf-edge label associates with itsrespective shelf items, the smart display/phone associates with itsrespective shopping cart contents, having both the shelf label and thesmart display, or mobile phone, equipped with unique MAC identifiers andwireless communication capability ranging from NFC (Near FieldCommunication), Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and the like, they will be“proximity-aware” of how near they are to each other, permitting thesmart display/phone and shelf label software to utilize the proximitymeta-data associated with the transfer of any item, thereby permittingthe smart display/phone and shelf label to track the transfer of anyitem from shelf to nearby cart and vice versa. This proximity meta datamay also be tracked centrally on a cart tracking system capable ofgeo-locating any cart and shelf-edge label in the store, in real-time,then identifying carts closest to respective shelf labels.

In a further embodiment, knowing any cart's proximity to nearby shelves,the transfer of items from those shelves to said carts—with the knowncombined weight of one or more shelf items and the transfer of saidweight to or from one or more nearby carts—permits the computation ofcombined tare weight distribution among the nearby carts and shelves,representing the transfer of known, identifiable, consumables from oneor more shelves to one or more nearby carts. Thus, eliminating anychange in normal shopping habits, while permitting an automated tally ofitem charges for those items associated by proximity and weightdistribution of nearby consumables transferred from display shelves toshopping carts and baskets, and vice versa.

In a further embodiment, the cart tally—with items placed on top ofother items and/or inside shopping bags in the cart—by weight footprintdistribution of said items would be “mapped” within the associated smartdisplay/phone of said cart by having software track the historicaladdition and removal of items in the cart; knowing their individualweights and footprints, based on the shelves they were taken from, andtracking their adjustment in the cart, based on the initial locationthey were placed in and the associated weight distribution map of thecart, at that time. This cart weight mapping allows for the removal ofparticular weight, thus adjusting the footprint distribution, to beidentifiable as a prior added weight from a particular shelf and knowingthe historical identity of said removed item or items, by their combinedweight, and the proximity to their originating shelf, the smart screencan be programmed to prompt the shopper to “please return [item name]back to its original location” and/or give further detailed informationabout the item they are now holding in their hand, for instance, itsnutritional content or some recipe suggestions, based on other items intheir cart and/or past shopping history.

In a further embodiment, in the event a shopper does not return an itemto its proper location after removing it from their cart, the centralproduct database can be made aware of its new location, either bygeo-location of the shopping cart at the time of the item's removaland/or by the addition of the item weight onto the printed electronicsof a shelf displaying different items, and immediately direct an storeclerk to find and inspect it and move it to where it belongs or discardit as damaged, defective or past its due date.

The thin structure that holds the printed electronics is made of manytypes of conventional and low-cost sheet materials. The selection of thesheet material is primarily driven by the field of use, for example, apolyethylene material may be used in a refrigerator, shopping cart ordamp area where foodstuffs and the like can spill and hence this sheetshelf structure needs to be conveniently wiped and/or washed down. Inthe case of the food consumption placemat or shopping cart liner, theintended technology is embedded in the placemat or liner in a robust butcost-effective manner, and is powered via small, coin sized batterywhich may or may not be recharged via wireless inductive power orkinetic, solar or ambient light power. This allows for routineoperations of the MEMS/NEMS sensors and wireless communication to theexternal application.

In a further embodiment, the stocking and re-stocking of store shelvesmay be accomplished with a detachable smart display or mobile smartphone, with similar features as the shopping cart smart display/phone,that may be used as a hand-held unit and/or attached to a manual orelectric pallet truck, and the like, for the purpose of transportingconsumables from back-of-store inventory to display shelves. Saiddetachable smart display/phone will be equipped with RFID and/or barcodereader, to allow for the identification of a single item, prior toplacing a group of said items on the thin sheet of polyethylene materialcontaining the intended electronic technology to track the addition ofsaid consumables to the shelf display.

In a further embodiment, in the above example, a plastic base “cover”containing printed electronic sensors, may be inserted onto the forks ofthe manual or electric pallet trucks, and the like, on which to placeback-of-store inventory, allowing for the identification and tracking byRFID, barcode, weight and weight footprint of all items transferred todisplay shelves, from back-of-store inventory, using the detachablesmart display/phone, described above.

In a further embodiment, shelving used for all back-of-store inventorystorage, as well as designated pallet placement areas may be fitted withdurable plastic liners containing printed electronic sensors, on whichto place all inventory received, to allow for the tracking of allinventory shipped to the store from the time it is received, forin-store distribution.

In a further embodiment, back-of-store inventory described above andsitting on plastic liners containing printed electronic sensors can betracked using digital inventory shelf-edge displays, in similar fashionas the digital display shelf-edge displays, described above. Thus,respective inventory shelving and storage may be dynamically describedand re-purposed, depending on the RFID's and barcodes identifying thejust placed inventory.

What is claimed is:
 1. A composition comprising integrated sensingmodalities comprising printed electronics, MEMS/NEMS sensor modalities,wireless power and communication, software interfaces to domain-specificapplications, verbal interaction with technology platforms toautomatically identify, measure and report on consumption and/ortransfer of foodstuffs, provisions and the like.